CHAPTER LII

WE do not sit, move, and occupy ourselves when we are alone and
at home, in the same manner as we do in the presence of a great king; we speak and
open our mouth as we please when we are with the people of our own household and
with our relatives, but not so when we are in a royal assembly. If we therefore
desire to attain human perfection, and to be truly men of God, we must awake from
our sleep, and bear in mind that the great king that is over us, and is always joined
to us, is greater than any earthly king, greater than David and Solomon. The king
that cleaves to us and embraces us is the Intellect that influences us, and forms
the link between us and God. We perceive God by means of that light that He sends
down unto us, wherefore the Psalmist says, “In Thy light shall we see light” (Ps.
xxxvi. 9); so God looks down upon us through that same light, and is always with
us beholding and watching us on account of this light. “Can any hide himself in
secret places that I shall not see him?” (Jer. xxiii. 24). Note this particularly.

When the perfect bear this in mind, they will be filled with fear
of God, humility, and piety, with true, not apparent, reverence and respect of God,
in such a manner that their conduct, even when alone with their wives or in the
bath, will be as modest as they are in public intercourse with other people. Thus
it is related of our renowned Sages that even in their sexual intercourse with their
wives they behaved with great modesty. They also said, “Who is modest? He whose
conduct in the dark night is the same as in the day.” You know also how much they
warned us not to walk proudly, since “the fulness of the whole earth is His glory”
(Isa. vi. 3). They thought that by these rules the above-mentioned idea will be
firmly established in the hearts of men, viz., that we are always before God, and
it is in the presence of His glory that we go to and fro. The great men among our
Sages would not uncover their heads because they believed that God’s glory was round
them and over them; for the same reason they spoke little. In our Commentary on
the Sayings of the Fathers (chap. i. 17) we have fully explained how we have to
restrict our speech. Comp. “For God is in heaven and thou upon earth, therefore
let thy words be few” (Eccles. v. i).

What I have here pointed out to you is the object of all our religious
acts. For by [carrying out] all the details of the prescribed practices, and repeating
them continually, some few pious men may attain human perfection. They will be filled
with respect and reverence towards God; and bearing in mind who is with them, they
will perform their duty. God declares in plain words that it is the object of all
religious acts to produce in man fear of God and obedience to His word-the state
of mind which we have demonstrated in this chapter for those who desire to know
the truth, as being our duty to seek. Comp. “If thou wilt not observe to do all
the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this
glorious and fearful name, the Lord thy God” (Deut. xxviii. 58). Consider how clearly
it is stated here that the only object and aim of “all the words of this law” is
to [make man] fear “the glorious and fearful name?’ That this end is attained by
certain acts we learn likewise from the phrase employed in this verse: “If thou
wilt not observe to do . . . that thou mayest fear?” For this phrase clearly shows
that fear of God is inculcated [into our hearts] when we act in accordance with
the positive and the negative precepts. But the truths which the Law teaches us — the
knowledge of God’s Existence and Unity — create in us love of God, as we have shown
repeatedly. You know how frequently the Law exhorts us to love God. Comp. “And thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy might” (Deut. vi. 5). The two objects, love and fear of God, are acquired
by two different means. The love is the result of the truths taught in the Law,
including the true knowledge of the Existence of God; whilst fear of God is produced
by the practices prescribed in the Law. Note this explanation.